America's love affair with the road has been further fueled by the trucking profession and the songs written about it. Since the moment the first truck hit the pavement, truck drivers have become cowboys in a sense, conquering the open road one truck stop, cup of Joe, and air horn blow at a time. Trucking songs are a celebration of this adventure, and early country crooners like Dave Dudley, Buck Owens and Merle Haggard used the trucking blues as a calling card-which is still infectious to the singers of today.
The following songs represent an unofficial Top 10 list, covering the mid-50s to mid-90s. Although there have been scores of excellent trucking tunes over those decades and beyond, the ten were chosen on their classical merit. Whether it proclaimed the inventiveness of the C.B., or brought attention to the female perspective, these tunes have stood the test of time throughout movie scores, radio air plays, and perhaps the greatest compliment-performances by other stars.
1. "Convoy," by C.W. McCall, (songwriter Bill Fries), 1975
This campy classic full of C.B. breaks and siren wails brought truck driving into pop culture. The story of unfolds as a series of truckers under the handles "Rubber Duck," "Pig Pen" and "Sod Buster" form a clustered convoy of trucks and evade the police-while utilizing great mid-70s style slang: "Yeah them smokies 'as thick as bugs on a bumper/They even had a bear-in-the-air/I sez callin' all trucks, this here's 'The Duck'/We about to go a huntin' bear."
The ultra catchy chorus and triumphant finish helped seal the campy classic deal: "'Cause we got a mighty convoy/Rockin' through the night/Yeah, we got a mighty convoy/Ain't she a beautiful sight?/Come on and join our convoy/Ain't nothin' gonna get in our way/We gonna roll this truckin' convoy/'Cross the U-S-A." Not only did this top the charts in its day, but it was enough of an influence that director Sam Peckinpah released a film by the same name three years later.
2. "Truck Drivin' Man," Terry Fell, 1954
Going back to the mid-fifties, this bluegrass piece, complete with boogie-woogie piano, blazing harp and the weepy pedal steel, tells the simple story of a trucker stopping for coffee and a song: "Pour me another cup of coffee/For it is the best in the land/I'll put a nickel in the jukebox/And play 'The Truck Drivin' Man'." This has been performed by tons of famous musicians over the decades including George Hamilton IV, Red Steagall, Glen Campbell, David Allan Coe, Commander Cody and many, many more.
3. "Six Days on the Road," Carl Montgomery and Earl Green, 1963
One of the most eloquently written songs about the life of a trucker, "Six Days on the Road" covers the themes of boredom, desperation, longing and back again. Throughout the storyteller's trials to stay awake and avoid the omnipresent police, the bottom line is that he misses his girl at home: "Well, it seems like a month, since I kissed my baby good-bye/I could have a lot of women, but I'm not like some other guys/I could find one to hold me tight, but I could never believe that it's right/Six days on the road and I'm gonna make it home tonight." Made famous by Dave Dudley, it's been covered by Taj Mahal, Boxcar Willie, George Thorogood, and my personal favorite, The Flying Burrito Brothers.
4. "Looking at the World Through a Windshield," Jerry Chestnut and Mike Hoyer, 1967
Like father like son. This number was written from the perspective of a little boy who missed his truck-driving father growing up, but now is one in the same. As an adult trucker, he finally understands his father's wanderlust with, "Now I'm looking at the world through a windshield/And see everything in a little bit different light/I got a sweet little thing I'm wantin' to see in Nashville/And I'm down around Dallas and a'rollin' on fast tonight." This has been made modern by The Sovines, Son Volt and Toby Walker.
5. "Phantom 309," Red Sovine, 1967
This tune beautifully illustrates the power of urban folklore. A similar story has been told time and time again, through movies, stories and of course, songs. Relaying the eerie but heartwarming tale of Big Joe the trucker who lost his life when he saved the lives of children destined for a crash, Sovine weaves a ghostly tale of haunting done good. It seems that every year around the time of his death, Big Joe hits the pavement and brings weary travelers to his favorite stop: "But, every now and then, some hiker'll come by/And like you, Big Joe'll give 'em a ride/Here, have another cup and forget about the dime/Keep it as a souvenir, from Big Joe and Phantom 309!" This tale has found an active afterlife in the company of Boxcar Willie, Dave Dudley, and most recently, Tom Waits.
6. "White Line Fever," Merle Haggard, 1969
Like most of Haggard's offerings, this is a true workin' man's song. He describes the world of trucking as a sickness almost-albeit something he doesn't want to be cured of anytime soon: "The years keep flyin' by like the highline poles/The wrinkles in my forehead show the miles I've put behind me/They continue to remind how fast I'm growin' old/Guess I'll die with this fever in my soul." This true road rager has been covered in a variety of styles by the likes of Mötorhead, The Flying Burrito Brothers and John Mayall.
7. "Truck Stop Girl," Lowell George and Bill Payne, 1970
And what about the women on the road? A common theme throughout trucking songs, the female force is generally represented as either the woman who keeps house and is a distant object of affection or the cute waitress at the truck stop. This song represents the latter, and succinctly captures what a young and lonesome trucker may feel: "He was the kind of man, do all he could/Above all he had integrity/But he was so young/And on a ten city run/In love with a truck stop girl." Although originally performed by Little Feat and The Byrds back in the day, this tune was given a sexy and decidingly female facelift by Kelly Willis in 1996.
8. "Truckin'," Grateful Dead, 1970
Given the psychedelics and the, ahem, stimulants of the sixties and seventies, it's hard to say if "Truckin'" is actually about truck driving. However, it is an enjoyable little ditty and slice of Americana, with callouts of cities all over the nation from Chicago to New York to New Orleans. This is another song where the goal is to get back home where the narrator belongs: "Truckin', I'm a goin' home/Whoa whoa baby, back where I belong/Back home, sit down and patch my bones, and get back truckin' on/Hey now get back truckin' home." Again, "home" may be more of a mental state than an actual place, but hey, this is a fun song to sing along with.
9. "Drivin' My Life Away," Eddie Rabbitt, 1980
During the seventies and eighties, country singer Eddie Rabbitt enjoyed his fair share of crossover success. This trucker tune was one of the genre-savvy songs that clocked onto the pop charts at number five and no doubt helped him win an American Music Award the following year. Rabbitt's infectious chorus of "Ooh I'm drivin' my life away/looking for a better way, for me/Ooh I'm drivin' my life away/looking for a sunny day," along with cleverly placed harmonies and catchy beats make this a hard song to get out of your head.
10. "Mama was a Rock (Daddy was a Rolling Stone)," BR5-49 and Kay Adams, 1996
Singer Kay Adams presented a fresh female perspective as a young girl growing up to the realities of the trucking life. With honky-tonk vocalizing and a soaring pedal steel, Adams narrates: "Six days a week daddy drove a big rig burnin' up the open road/No matter what he hauled it was known by all Mama carried the heaviest load/Six hungry kids in a mobile home in a park outside of town/Can drive a woman semi crazy when she don't got her man around." Her honest and biting lyrics remind us about the importance of keeping the home fires burning, and the woman (or man) that stands behind the truck driver.
And finally, there are two honorary titles that seem to imply trucking-or certainly the love of the open road-even though it's not the subject. The first, originally written and recorded by country star Roger Miller in 1965 is "King of the Road." Although the title is compelling, it is actually an ode to the nomadic way of life on the national train system. The other, "On the Road Again" is one of Willie Nelson's great contributions to songwriting. It was written for the "Honeysuckle Rose" soundtrack, and records Nelson's love for tour. A tour bus counts as a truck, right?
Now, breaker, breaker, 10-4, we gonna roll this musical convoy? Over and out!
Andrea Rizzo is a freelance writer in the Norfolk, Va. area. She specializes in music and entertainment writing, and currently contributes to Port Folio Weekly and Lifestyles. In addition, she regularly contributes to CareersinGear.com Magazine and CareersinGear.com, the leading sources for truck driving jobs and other trucking job search tools.
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